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Iran War Could Result in Significant Economic Setback for the Middle East: UNDP Report
UNDP warns the conflict may raise unemployment by 4 points, cost 3.6 million jobs, and push 4 million into poverty across Gulf Cooperation Council and Levant regions.
- On Tuesday, the United Nations Development Program released analysis projecting Arab States could lose between $120 billion and $194 billion in GDP due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
- The conflict, which began on Feb 28, threatens profound socio-economic impacts across Arab States even if hostilities conclude relatively soon, according to the agency's study of various escalation scenarios.
- Hardest-Hit regions include the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Levant, with each area projected to lose more than 5.2% of their GDP as global energy prices soar.
- Potential impacts include 3.6 million lost jobs and four million people pushed into poverty, as regional unemployment could rise by four percentage points, the report indicates.
- The crisis rings 'alarm bells,' noted Abdallah Dardari, United Nations assistant secretary general, while earlier reports warn the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz is increasing food and fertilizer prices.
25 Articles
25 Articles
The analysis outlines the impact on the labour market, including a possible four percentage points increase in the regional unemployment rate.
The war in the Middle East threatens to become the economic wreckage of an entire region. What has begun militarily is becoming more and more an economic catastrophe.
Escalation in Middle East Reverses more than a Year of Economic Growth in the Region
Credit: UN Photo/Pasqual GorriBy UN Development ProgrammeAMMAN / NEW YORK , Apr 1 2026 (IPS) New estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) suggest the military escalation in the Middle East, now into its fifth week, may cost economies in the region from 3.7 to 6.0 percent of their collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This represents a staggering loss of US$120-194 billion and exceeds the cumulative regional GDP growth achi…
UN report: Middle East escalation could reverse last year's growth
The military escalation in the Middle East, now in its fifth week, may cost economies in the region 3.7-6% of their collective GDP, representing up to $194 billion in losses, according to a new report released Tuesday.Economic losses could exceed the cumulative regional GDP growth achieved in 2025, said the report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Coupled with an estimated rise in unemployment of up to 4 percentage points – or…
The worst-case scenario envisions an economic downturn unseen since the early 1990s. The US-Israeli war against Iran could cost Arab countries between $120 billion and $194 billion in GDP, according to a new study by the United Nations Development Program, which warned of millions of job losses and a new wave of poverty in the region. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Bloomberg. Read also: Are the landings near? US paratroopers are arrivi…
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